"Every complaint counts so I would encourage people to report every time. People can call the complaint line if the form is too cumbersome. It is OK to make a call for each occurrence."
So writes Marcia Danab of DEQ's nuisance complaint department ("Communications and Outreach"). Marcia wants people to use the DEQ hotline or online complaint form to notify the Department about untenable odors, litter, air and water pollution, and other assaults on the environment and our senses.
She says, "The best way to record a complaint with the Department of Environmental Quality is to use the online complaint form at http://www.deq.state.or.us/complaints/ You also can call the DEQ Complaints Hotline at 1-888-997-7888. Please do not call individuals at DEQ. Using the DEQ complaints system is the most effective way for DEQ to address a complaint. Someone from DEQ will get back to the person who files a complaint."
In 2011-2012 DEQ received over 200 separate complaints about Riverbend, mostly about smell. Beginning in 2014, DEQ will implement its new Odor Nuisance Strategy to handle problem odor sources. Our job as "air consumers" is to make sure DEQ knows how pervasive and nasty the odors that emanate from Riverbend truly are.
The past several weeks the deep fog kept odors near the ground and in the low hills surrounding the dump making Christmas nearly unbearable for many residents within 2 to 3 miles of the landfill. In addition to fog, the use of tarps instead of soil for daily cover releases a stifling garbage stink when the tarps blow off in the wind.
If the dump is allowed to expand, the odor and other problems -- birds and vermin that damage nearby crops, truck noise and road wear and tear, leachate contamination, litter -- will only get worse.
From now through January 2 at 5:00 pm, when you report an odor issue to DEQ, send a copy to the Yamhill County Planning Department. Ask that your report be included in the record for Riverbend's rezoning request. Send to: Ken Friday at fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us.
And maybe our New Year will actually be Happy!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
A Dump by Any Other Name...Still Stinks
by Ilsa Perse, President, Stop the Dump Coalition/Waste Not of Yamhill County
DEQ (the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) says it doesn't get very many complaints about the stench from Riverbend Landfill. Without recorded complaints DEQ, and Waste Management, think that everything is hunky-dory. You know that is not the case.
What Needs to Happen: The public needs to report the odors
How to Report:
Email: andes.gary@deq.state.or.us (Gary Andes, DEQ odor czar for Riverbend)
complaintintake@deq.state.or.us (DEQ general complaint department)
mathiss@co.yamhill.or.us (Sherrie Mathison, Yamhill County Solid Waste)
JOLeary@wm.com (Waste Management environmental control at the dump)
What to Say:
• where you smelled the odor (driving on Hway 18, Lowes parking lot, walking on Linfield Campus, etc)
• when you smelled the odor (date and time if possible)
• what you smelled -- This is an extra credit detail and is not essential, but sometimes the odor that fills the air is clearly garbage, or diesel, or rotten egg.
Numbers Matter: If possible, send one email each time you smell the dump. It's a numbers game. 4 different emails will go in as 4 complaints.
If you want to elaborate about why the odor bothers you, of course, do that, but you can keep your emails simple, sticking simply to: where, when, and maybe what.
Easy way to send to 4 different email addresses: Make a group in your email address book; maybe call it "Riverbend Stinks" or "Odor"or "Stench" or anything that works for you and include the 4 email contacts shown above. Send your comments to that one address and voila, all 4 contacts will be included. If you can only manage one email address, then make it GARY ANDES ---andes.gary@deq.state.or.us.
People tell us all the time that they smell the stench driving to and from the Coast, Willamina or Sheridan; driving on Pea Vine Road, at Lowes, Albertsons, Roths, Linfield, Bi-Mart,3rd Street, etc. Telling folks like your boss or myself that the dump smells does no good. It only counts if you tell DEQ.
Thank you for helping out yet again. Complaints before the end of the year are important, but then once 2014 rolls around, please keep it up!
Merry, Happy, Joyous, Peaceful, and Garbage-Free wishes to all.
DEQ (the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) says it doesn't get very many complaints about the stench from Riverbend Landfill. Without recorded complaints DEQ, and Waste Management, think that everything is hunky-dory. You know that is not the case.
What Needs to Happen: The public needs to report the odors
How to Report:
Email: andes.gary@deq.state.or.us (Gary Andes, DEQ odor czar for Riverbend)
complaintintake@deq.state.or.us (DEQ general complaint department)
mathiss@co.yamhill.or.us (Sherrie Mathison, Yamhill County Solid Waste)
JOLeary@wm.com (Waste Management environmental control at the dump)
What to Say:
• where you smelled the odor (driving on Hway 18, Lowes parking lot, walking on Linfield Campus, etc)
• when you smelled the odor (date and time if possible)
• what you smelled -- This is an extra credit detail and is not essential, but sometimes the odor that fills the air is clearly garbage, or diesel, or rotten egg.
Numbers Matter: If possible, send one email each time you smell the dump. It's a numbers game. 4 different emails will go in as 4 complaints.
If you want to elaborate about why the odor bothers you, of course, do that, but you can keep your emails simple, sticking simply to: where, when, and maybe what.
Easy way to send to 4 different email addresses: Make a group in your email address book; maybe call it "Riverbend Stinks" or "Odor"or "Stench" or anything that works for you and include the 4 email contacts shown above. Send your comments to that one address and voila, all 4 contacts will be included. If you can only manage one email address, then make it GARY ANDES ---andes.gary@deq.state.or.us.
People tell us all the time that they smell the stench driving to and from the Coast, Willamina or Sheridan; driving on Pea Vine Road, at Lowes, Albertsons, Roths, Linfield, Bi-Mart,3rd Street, etc. Telling folks like your boss or myself that the dump smells does no good. It only counts if you tell DEQ.
Thank you for helping out yet again. Complaints before the end of the year are important, but then once 2014 rolls around, please keep it up!
Merry, Happy, Joyous, Peaceful, and Garbage-Free wishes to all.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Reduce Waste, Not Trash Bills!
This was the plea of Duncan Reid, a sustainability professional who testified in opposition to Riverbend Landfill's latest attempt to expand. Reid and dozens of others offered Yamhill County Commissioners Kathy George and Allan Springer their opinions at a hearing today on Waste Management's request to rezone the landfill from Public Works/Safety (PWS) to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).
Rezoning the dump would allow Riverbend to take advantage of a state law that allows landfills sited on farmland to expand onto adjacent high-value farmland. Opponents, however, argue that other state laws prevent a landfill from being zoned EFU. Commissioners will have to decide whether to accept Waste Management's theory that a county has the power to put a parcel of land into any zone it chooses or opponents' contention that only land that meets the state definition of "farmland" may be zoned EFU.
If the landfill is rezoned, nothing prevents it from expanding. If the rezone is denied, the landfill is likely to close when it reaches capacity in 2017.
Waste Management and a host of supporters tried to convince Commissioners George and Springer that closing the local dump would result in business-busting rate increases, while opponents pointed to the many Oregon counties that have both no landfill and thriving economies. Reid's comment was aimed at the several witnesses who focused on their trash bills rather than on the impacts an expanded dump would have on county tourism, agriculture in the Riverbend neighborhood, and downtown McMinnville businesses. Reid urged all parties to expand the conversation to include ways to reduce waste and reuse material now tossed away.
You can add your own comments. Through 5:00 PM Thursday December 19, anyone can submit comments related to the proposed rezone and expansion by contacting Ken Friday at the County Planning Department:
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Comments should focus on whether the county needs a local dump over the next 25 years, the appropriateness of a 122-acre, 13-story high landfill in a farm and tourist area on the banks of a river, the likelihood of reclaiming the existing dump for farm use, and alternative ways our garbage can be handled. Please include your name and snail mail address so that the Planning Department can mail you the Commissioners' decision.
Between December 20th and 5:00 PM Thursday, January 2, anyone may comment on material previously submitted; after January 2, only Waste Management as the applicant may respond. The Commissioners will make their decision on January 16, 2014. Don't let them decide without hearing from you!
Rezoning the dump would allow Riverbend to take advantage of a state law that allows landfills sited on farmland to expand onto adjacent high-value farmland. Opponents, however, argue that other state laws prevent a landfill from being zoned EFU. Commissioners will have to decide whether to accept Waste Management's theory that a county has the power to put a parcel of land into any zone it chooses or opponents' contention that only land that meets the state definition of "farmland" may be zoned EFU.
If the landfill is rezoned, nothing prevents it from expanding. If the rezone is denied, the landfill is likely to close when it reaches capacity in 2017.
Waste Management and a host of supporters tried to convince Commissioners George and Springer that closing the local dump would result in business-busting rate increases, while opponents pointed to the many Oregon counties that have both no landfill and thriving economies. Reid's comment was aimed at the several witnesses who focused on their trash bills rather than on the impacts an expanded dump would have on county tourism, agriculture in the Riverbend neighborhood, and downtown McMinnville businesses. Reid urged all parties to expand the conversation to include ways to reduce waste and reuse material now tossed away.
You can add your own comments. Through 5:00 PM Thursday December 19, anyone can submit comments related to the proposed rezone and expansion by contacting Ken Friday at the County Planning Department:
Email: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Attn: Ken Friday, 525 NE 4th Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Comments should focus on whether the county needs a local dump over the next 25 years, the appropriateness of a 122-acre, 13-story high landfill in a farm and tourist area on the banks of a river, the likelihood of reclaiming the existing dump for farm use, and alternative ways our garbage can be handled. Please include your name and snail mail address so that the Planning Department can mail you the Commissioners' decision.
Between December 20th and 5:00 PM Thursday, January 2, anyone may comment on material previously submitted; after January 2, only Waste Management as the applicant may respond. The Commissioners will make their decision on January 16, 2014. Don't let them decide without hearing from you!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Are You On The List?
"We Oppose Expansion of Waste Management's Riverbend Landfill - No Zone Change! No Expansion!"
So reads the headline on page 5 of the December 10th News-Register. The rest of the page is filled by the names of six hundred individuals and businesses with ties to Yamhill County.
Children lent their names. Businesses on Third Street in McMinnville. Easterners who've walked historic McPhillips Farm and smelled and seen the landfill firsthand. Shops and residents in Carlton where semis full of garbage pound the streets. Doctors, shop owners, wineries. People who live here. People who visit.
The list will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners on December 12 at a hearing on Waste Management's proposed zone change for the landfill. The hearing begins at 10:00 AM (details below).
On the list? No!! - but you wish you were? Here are three ways to get your name on the list:
1) Send your name by 7:00 AM Thursday, December 12, to Susan Watkins, Stop the Dump Coalition, maczenith@onlinenw.com with a note: "Add my name to the list!" Susan will collect names and attach them to the ad for presentation to the Commissioners at the hearing.
2) Send your name by 10:00 AM Thursday, December 12, directly to Yamhill County Planning Director Mike Brandt, brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us with a note that says something like: "I oppose rezoning and expansion of Riverbend Landfill. To rezone a landfill to agricultural land makes a mockery of Oregon's land use laws. Waste Management has presented no credible plan for returning the dump to agriculture, nor has it explained how land that does not qualify as "agricultural" under state and federal law can be zoned Exclusive Farm Use. Please reject this application."
3) Come to the hearing and WRITE your name onto the list!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 - 2nd Street (corner Baker) McMinnville
WHY: To Stop the Dump!
If you need more information before making up your mind, please read older posts below about why rezoning and expansion of a stinky, noisy, scavenger-friendly dump on the banks of the Yamhill River is a BAD IDEA!
So reads the headline on page 5 of the December 10th News-Register. The rest of the page is filled by the names of six hundred individuals and businesses with ties to Yamhill County.
Children lent their names. Businesses on Third Street in McMinnville. Easterners who've walked historic McPhillips Farm and smelled and seen the landfill firsthand. Shops and residents in Carlton where semis full of garbage pound the streets. Doctors, shop owners, wineries. People who live here. People who visit.
The list will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners on December 12 at a hearing on Waste Management's proposed zone change for the landfill. The hearing begins at 10:00 AM (details below).
On the list? No!! - but you wish you were? Here are three ways to get your name on the list:
1) Send your name by 7:00 AM Thursday, December 12, to Susan Watkins, Stop the Dump Coalition, maczenith@onlinenw.com with a note: "Add my name to the list!" Susan will collect names and attach them to the ad for presentation to the Commissioners at the hearing.
2) Send your name by 10:00 AM Thursday, December 12, directly to Yamhill County Planning Director Mike Brandt, brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us with a note that says something like: "I oppose rezoning and expansion of Riverbend Landfill. To rezone a landfill to agricultural land makes a mockery of Oregon's land use laws. Waste Management has presented no credible plan for returning the dump to agriculture, nor has it explained how land that does not qualify as "agricultural" under state and federal law can be zoned Exclusive Farm Use. Please reject this application."
3) Come to the hearing and WRITE your name onto the list!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 - 2nd Street (corner Baker) McMinnville
WHY: To Stop the Dump!
If you need more information before making up your mind, please read older posts below about why rezoning and expansion of a stinky, noisy, scavenger-friendly dump on the banks of the Yamhill River is a BAD IDEA!
Friday, December 6, 2013
PC Denies Waste Management Rezoning Request!
by Ilsa Perse, President, Stop the Dump Coalition. Arnie Hollander contributed to this article.
It is not often that we get to say "good news" and "dump" in the same sentence, but today we can do just that. Last night at the Yamhill County Planning Commission meeting, the County Planning Department staff recommended that the Commission DENY (yes, DENY) Waste Management's application to rezone the dump to EFU land. Rezoning would have opened the door for the landfill to expand.
This was a stunning turn of events. After some convoluted deliberation, the Commissioners themselves voted against Waste Management's application.
The Planning Department recommendation cited Waste Management's failure to adequately protect Goal 3 values (preservation of farmland) or to demonstrate a need for the proposed uses, and the lack of a reclamation plan for the landfill.
Under state law, a landfill cannot be sited on farmland unless the state Department of Environmental Quality first determines that the site can be reclaimed for farm use. DEQ has yet to make a determination about Riverbend, a 96-acre, 13-story high, 10,000,000-tons of garbage mountain next to a river.
Planning Director Mike Brandt cited testimony by the Stop the Dump Coalition as instrumental in pointing out deficiencies in Waste Management's application.
Waste Management must now make a choice: proceed to an already-scheduled hearing before the County Board of Commissioners set for December 12, knowing that the Planning Department will recommend denial, or withdraw its application and resubmit an "improved" application later.
This puts expansion opponents in a strong position going into the Commissioners' hearing if that is how Waste Management elects to proceed. Of course, this is where YOU come in!
We need your voice!
WHAT: County Commissioners' Meeting on Waste Management's Application to Rezone the Landfill. Approval means the landfill gets to EXPAND.
WHEN: Thursday, December 12, at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall-200 Second Street McMinnville (corner of Baker)
DETAILS: The entire proceedings from the Planning Commission hearing in November will be forwarded to the County Commissioners. If you weighed in via a letter or spoke at the Planning Commission hearing, the County Commissioners already have your comments.
If you didn't have a chance to voice your concerns earlier in November, or you have something new you would like to add, please send your thoughts to the Yamhill County Planning Department with instructions to place your comments in the record for the COUNTY COMMISSIONERS hearing December 12th.
Email Ken Friday (fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us) at the Yamhill County Planning Department that you do not want the County to rezone the landfill. If you can focus your comments on a demonstrable need for farmland in Yamhill County, the unlikelihood of turning the dump into a farm use, or alternative ways your garbage can be handled, please do so. Please include your name and snail mail address. The Planning Department needs to be able to mail you the decision.
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Attn: Ken Friday
You have all done so much already. However, there is one more hearing where your attendance will make a huge difference.
We hope you can attend on DECEMBER 12th, at 10 AM.
As always, please send me questions and comments.
THANK YOU again for all that you have done.
Ilsa Perse
Stop the Dump Coalition
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Garbage, We've Got Garbage!
by Ilsa Perse, President, Stop the Dump Coalition
Two important garbage events coming up!
EVENT #1--Planning Commission Vote
The Yamhill County Planning Commission will vote on Waste Management's application to rezone the dump from Public Works/Safety to farmland.
WHEN: Thursday, December 5th at 7:00 PM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 Second Street (corner Baker) in McMinnville
DETAILS: The public will not be allowed to speak. The Planning Department will make its recommendation. The Planning Commission will vote. This vote is an ADVISORY vote. Ultimately the County Commissioners will make the final decision. It is important, however, that the public (that's you) show the Planning Department and the Commissioners that you care deeply about how they vote. The best way to do that is to show up.
EVENT #2--The BIG One--where we REALLY need you!
The REAL "deciders" meet to hear Waste Management's application to rezone the dump to farmland only one week after the Planning Commission votes. We need you there on DECEMBER 12th!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12th at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 Second Street (corner Baker) in McMinnville
DETAILS: The entire proceedings from the Planning Commission hearing in November will be forwarded to the County Commissioners. If you weighed in via a letter or spoke at the PC hearing, the TWO (yes, only 2) County Commissioners who will decide the zone change have your comment. Remember, approval of this zone change guarantees that the dump will expand and our County will continue to be the dumping ground for garbage from Washington County (Metro) and the Coast for decades to come.
BUT if you didn't get to voice your concerns or you have something new to say, send your thoughts now to Planner Ken Friday at the Yamhill County Planning Department. Tell him you do not want the County to rezone the landfill and tell him why. Ask him to forward your comments to: COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Kathy George and Allen Springer for the hearing on December 12th. (Please include your name and snail mail address if you email so the Planning Department can mail you a notice of the final decision as required by law.)
Email: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Attn: Ken Friday
525 NE 4th St
McMinnville, OR 97128
We hope to see you at both meetings. However, if you can make it to only one hearing, please attend on DECEMBER 12th, at 10 AM. THANK YOU for everything you have already done to Stop the Dump!
Two important garbage events coming up!
EVENT #1--Planning Commission Vote
The Yamhill County Planning Commission will vote on Waste Management's application to rezone the dump from Public Works/Safety to farmland.
WHEN: Thursday, December 5th at 7:00 PM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 Second Street (corner Baker) in McMinnville
DETAILS: The public will not be allowed to speak. The Planning Department will make its recommendation. The Planning Commission will vote. This vote is an ADVISORY vote. Ultimately the County Commissioners will make the final decision. It is important, however, that the public (that's you) show the Planning Department and the Commissioners that you care deeply about how they vote. The best way to do that is to show up.
EVENT #2--The BIG One--where we REALLY need you!
The REAL "deciders" meet to hear Waste Management's application to rezone the dump to farmland only one week after the Planning Commission votes. We need you there on DECEMBER 12th!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12th at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 Second Street (corner Baker) in McMinnville
DETAILS: The entire proceedings from the Planning Commission hearing in November will be forwarded to the County Commissioners. If you weighed in via a letter or spoke at the PC hearing, the TWO (yes, only 2) County Commissioners who will decide the zone change have your comment. Remember, approval of this zone change guarantees that the dump will expand and our County will continue to be the dumping ground for garbage from Washington County (Metro) and the Coast for decades to come.
BUT if you didn't get to voice your concerns or you have something new to say, send your thoughts now to Planner Ken Friday at the Yamhill County Planning Department. Tell him you do not want the County to rezone the landfill and tell him why. Ask him to forward your comments to: COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Kathy George and Allen Springer for the hearing on December 12th. (Please include your name and snail mail address if you email so the Planning Department can mail you a notice of the final decision as required by law.)
Email: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Attn: Ken Friday
525 NE 4th St
McMinnville, OR 97128
We hope to see you at both meetings. However, if you can make it to only one hearing, please attend on DECEMBER 12th, at 10 AM. THANK YOU for everything you have already done to Stop the Dump!
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
What Next?
As you know the Yamhill County Planning Commission held its hearing on the proposal to rezone the dump to farmland back on November 7. If the rezoning goes through, the landfill will be able to expand subject only to site design review conditions.
The PC is taking additional comments through this Thursday, November 21 at 5:00 pm (send your comments to: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us).* Waste Management, which proposed the rezoning, then gets another 6 days to respond.
Despite the fact that the PC is still taking comment and won't vote on the rezoning request until its December 5 meeting, the County Board of Commissioners has already scheduled its own hearing. That will begin Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM. Both the Dec 5 (7:00 PM) and Dec 12 meetings will be held in McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 2nd Street, McMinnville (corner of Baker).
Planning Commission Hearing
The big news coming out of the PC hearing came in two flavors:
First, the County Planning Staff recommended that a Limited Use Overlay Zone be placed on all acres Waste Management owns around the dump. The Zone would prevent waste disposal on all but 37 of those acres.
Second, the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has reclassified the soils at the dump site from high-value farm soils, Classes I-IV, to miscellaneous/dump soil. According to the NRCS, as soon as waste is deposited on a site, the soil class changes.
In addition, the Oregon Department of Agriculture pointed out that the land itself is no longer considered "agricultural land," for two completely different reasons: 1) the soil reclassification takes the land out of the definition of ag land in Oregon Planning Goal 3 and 2) that definition explicitly excludes land removed from EFU zoning via an exception. The PWS-zoned land beneath and around the dump was removed from EFU zoning back in 1980 via the exception process.
PC Chair Daryl Garrettson asked whether land must have farmable soils in order to be zoned EFU. Bill Kabeiseman of Garvey Schubert Barer, the Stop the Dump Coalition's attorney, answered squarely, "Yes."
Wrote Kabeiseman:
"As required by state law, the County has implemented ORS 215.243 [purpose of EFU zoning is to protect farmland], as well as Goal 3, through the adoption of exclusive farm use zoning district. Because the EFU district implements state policy to preserve agricultural land, land within the EFU district must meet the definition of agricultural land."
He cited a state Supreme Court decision and a Land Use Board of Appeals case to support his argument.
With respect to the proposed Overlay Zone, expansion opponents pointed out that the overlay provided little assurance that the dump would not be expanded again beyond the current anticipated 37-acre request. Unlike a permanent conservation easement, a Limited Use Overlay Zone could easily be changed by the County in the future at the request of Waste Management or a successor owner.
Moreover, in its comments Waste Management asked that the overlay not prevent lands outside the 37-acre expansion from being used for unspecified "landfill operations."
The Stop the Dump Coalition expects to file a written response to the overlay request by this Thursday's deadline.
*Be sure to include your name and snail mail address! The County must mail notices to each person who participates in the hearing.
The PC is taking additional comments through this Thursday, November 21 at 5:00 pm (send your comments to: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us).* Waste Management, which proposed the rezoning, then gets another 6 days to respond.
Despite the fact that the PC is still taking comment and won't vote on the rezoning request until its December 5 meeting, the County Board of Commissioners has already scheduled its own hearing. That will begin Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM. Both the Dec 5 (7:00 PM) and Dec 12 meetings will be held in McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 2nd Street, McMinnville (corner of Baker).
Planning Commission Hearing
The big news coming out of the PC hearing came in two flavors:
First, the County Planning Staff recommended that a Limited Use Overlay Zone be placed on all acres Waste Management owns around the dump. The Zone would prevent waste disposal on all but 37 of those acres.
Second, the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has reclassified the soils at the dump site from high-value farm soils, Classes I-IV, to miscellaneous/dump soil. According to the NRCS, as soon as waste is deposited on a site, the soil class changes.
In addition, the Oregon Department of Agriculture pointed out that the land itself is no longer considered "agricultural land," for two completely different reasons: 1) the soil reclassification takes the land out of the definition of ag land in Oregon Planning Goal 3 and 2) that definition explicitly excludes land removed from EFU zoning via an exception. The PWS-zoned land beneath and around the dump was removed from EFU zoning back in 1980 via the exception process.
PC Chair Daryl Garrettson asked whether land must have farmable soils in order to be zoned EFU. Bill Kabeiseman of Garvey Schubert Barer, the Stop the Dump Coalition's attorney, answered squarely, "Yes."
Wrote Kabeiseman:
"As required by state law, the County has implemented ORS 215.243 [purpose of EFU zoning is to protect farmland], as well as Goal 3, through the adoption of exclusive farm use zoning district. Because the EFU district implements state policy to preserve agricultural land, land within the EFU district must meet the definition of agricultural land."
He cited a state Supreme Court decision and a Land Use Board of Appeals case to support his argument.
With respect to the proposed Overlay Zone, expansion opponents pointed out that the overlay provided little assurance that the dump would not be expanded again beyond the current anticipated 37-acre request. Unlike a permanent conservation easement, a Limited Use Overlay Zone could easily be changed by the County in the future at the request of Waste Management or a successor owner.
Moreover, in its comments Waste Management asked that the overlay not prevent lands outside the 37-acre expansion from being used for unspecified "landfill operations."
The Stop the Dump Coalition expects to file a written response to the overlay request by this Thursday's deadline.
*Be sure to include your name and snail mail address! The County must mail notices to each person who participates in the hearing.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Last Chance to Comment on Rezoning!
Tonight is the night! Although the Planning Commission may well hold the record open after tonight's hearing, or may even continue the hearing to allow Waste Management to rebut all the information expansion opponents will submit, we can't count on that.
You need to submit your comments NOW.
Many of you have already written terrific letters. I have been privileged to read some of them, and I am proud that our little Stop the Dump Coalition is associated with each of you. We have been blessed with terrific partners to work with.
If you have been putting off your comment, why not send it now? The hearing won't end before 9:00 PM I'm sure, so you have plenty of time! Send your note to: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us.
Some points to raise:
- If you personally or your business may be impacted by an even huger landfill right on McMinnville's door (2.3 miles from Lowe's), say so.
- If you or your employees or customers must drive past the dump to reach you, tell the PC what that is like.
- If you value farmland, point out that (1) the dump is not a farm! (remember that the hearing tonight is to rezone the dump to farmland, which is the first step in allowing it to expand) and that (2) converting the dump to fictional farmland in order to convert adjacent actual farmland to a dump is a perversion of Oregon's land use law.
- If you value the environment, raise issues of water protection, litter, road damage, noise and light pollution, and of course odor. The reason the dump is allowed to stink (and emit other noxious gases) is that our air is so clean! Conundrums abound.
Thanks for all your support. We look forward to seeing some of you and your friends and colleagues at the hearing tonight and to read your comments in the PC file.
You need to submit your comments NOW.
Many of you have already written terrific letters. I have been privileged to read some of them, and I am proud that our little Stop the Dump Coalition is associated with each of you. We have been blessed with terrific partners to work with.
If you have been putting off your comment, why not send it now? The hearing won't end before 9:00 PM I'm sure, so you have plenty of time! Send your note to: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us.
Some points to raise:
- If you personally or your business may be impacted by an even huger landfill right on McMinnville's door (2.3 miles from Lowe's), say so.
- If you or your employees or customers must drive past the dump to reach you, tell the PC what that is like.
- If you value farmland, point out that (1) the dump is not a farm! (remember that the hearing tonight is to rezone the dump to farmland, which is the first step in allowing it to expand) and that (2) converting the dump to fictional farmland in order to convert adjacent actual farmland to a dump is a perversion of Oregon's land use law.
- If you value the environment, raise issues of water protection, litter, road damage, noise and light pollution, and of course odor. The reason the dump is allowed to stink (and emit other noxious gases) is that our air is so clean! Conundrums abound.
Thanks for all your support. We look forward to seeing some of you and your friends and colleagues at the hearing tonight and to read your comments in the PC file.
Monday, November 4, 2013
How to Comment on Riverbend Rezoning
The best way to comment is to come to the Planning Commission Hearing! You can speak (3 minute limit), submit your written comments, or fill out a comment card at the hearing.
The hearing is Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 pm at the McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 NE 2nd Street at Baker in McMinnville.
If you can't attend the hearing, please send your written comments by US mail or email or fax to the Planning Department!
US Mail: Yamhill County Department of Planning & Development, 525 NE 4th Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Email: send to Ken Friday at fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Fax: (503) 434-7544
Please include your name and mailing address on your comments! By law the County must notify everyone who submits a comment about the Planning Commission's decision, but they have to send the notice via US mail!
You might also send a hard copy of your comments to David Steiner, President and CEO of Waste Management, and W. Robert Reum, Chairman of the Board. The mailing address for Waste Management HQ is: 1001 Fannin, Suite 4000, Houston, TX 77002.
They both need to hear the truth from people who live with this dump everyday.
If you need more information about the issues, please read posts below.
See you at the PC!
The hearing is Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 pm at the McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 NE 2nd Street at Baker in McMinnville.
If you can't attend the hearing, please send your written comments by US mail or email or fax to the Planning Department!
US Mail: Yamhill County Department of Planning & Development, 525 NE 4th Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Email: send to Ken Friday at fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Fax: (503) 434-7544
Please include your name and mailing address on your comments! By law the County must notify everyone who submits a comment about the Planning Commission's decision, but they have to send the notice via US mail!
You might also send a hard copy of your comments to David Steiner, President and CEO of Waste Management, and W. Robert Reum, Chairman of the Board. The mailing address for Waste Management HQ is: 1001 Fannin, Suite 4000, Houston, TX 77002.
They both need to hear the truth from people who live with this dump everyday.
If you need more information about the issues, please read posts below.
See you at the PC!
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Landfill Expansion? Count the Ways This Is a BAD IDEA
OK, now you know why the rezoning hearing, November 7 at 7:00 pm in front of the County Planning Commission, is such a big deal (if you don't, see Why You Need to Tell the Planning Commission: No Rezone for Riverbend! below).
But why is
landfill expansion
such a bad idea?
Let me
count the ways....
The dump damages the County
economy. The dump sits between Highway 18 -- the
busiest tourist highway in the state -- and the South Yamhill River. Everyone driving along Hwy 18 can see the dump, and at least half the
time can smell
it. Not the best advertisement for
stopping in Yamhill County to enjoy the scenery (or local businesses).
The dump threatens our water. The river itself is in jeopardy. At least once a year river floodwaters lap against the landfill.
Given that some of the early garbage cells are unlined and improperly
compacted, it is highly likely that the landfill is contaminating the
Yamhill River and groundwater.
In fact,
DEQ and Waste Management (Texas-based corporate owner of the landfill) concede that leachate, liquid contaminant
from waste, is leaking from the dump into the ground water. DEQ won't do anything, however, because
the seepage rate has slowed over the years. Not stopped, mind you -- slowed.
The
dump is a huge magnet for birds and vermin. The
likely cause of this attraction is failure by past dump managers to properly
cover the waste. The landfill's
permit requires all waste to be covered with 6" of soil or equivalent
daily. But until recently,
landfill operators routinely ignored this requirement. Consequently, birds, rats, coyotes, and
other scavengers have gotten used to feasting at the dump.
Birds then
leave their droppings in the river (pushing harmful E.coli readings above legal limits) and
on neighboring crops. Birds,
including hordes of seagulls and starlings, also "rest" on
neighboring farmland, eating young plants and contaminating soils.
Scavengers
harass neighboring farm animals and infest neighboring homes and farm
buildings. Next-door-neighbor
Ramsey McPhillips has killed nearly 50 rats in his farmhouse just this year
(2013). Scavengers also damage
other crops including hazelnut trees.
The
dump stinks. Waste Management claims it controls
odors at 50 of its 52 Western dump sites -- and Riverbend is one of the two
where noxious odors roam free.
Current dump managers blame their predecessors for not properly cutting
up the "decks" where trucks park to dump their loads. In the past, we've been told, the decks
were simply covered over with new waste.
Those flat areas, which truck traffic compacts, collect water that fill
wells drilled to capture landfill gas.
Gas that can't use the water-filled wells finds other ways to escape
from the dump, creating the awful odors that routinely gag neighbors and passersby.
The
dump serves Metro, not YC. Yes, our waste goes into
Riverbend, but only about a third of what's dumped at the landfill is generated
in Yamhill County. A full 40% is
trucked in from Metro, and NW Oregon counties send their waste to
Riverbend. None of this waste is sorted for
recyclables,
except what individuals do themselves at home. If sorting for recycables was required before a load could
be dumped, or if the landfill served only Yamhill County, no expansion would
ever be required.
The
dump is noisy and intrusive. Current landfill
management has changed the hours at the dump, but operations still begin before
dawn and end well after dark in winter.
This means bright lights that shine into homes in the neighboring hills
and truck noise and beeps that wake neighbors.
The
dump means trucks! Big semis full of garbage pound down
our County and city roads, bringing tons of waste (1700 tons daily!) to
Riverbend, lining up before dawn.
These trucks commonly spew litter and dust and kick up landfill dust as
they leave the dump. The city of
Carlton has already appealed to Metro and ODOT to control the trucks that have
damaged sewer and other sub-surface infrastructure in Carlton's downtown. Lafayette Highway in McMinnville may be
next.
The
dump will fail in an earthquake. Our region will experience a magnitude 9.0 -- ie,
HUGE -- earthquake within the lifetime of the dump, if not our personal
lifetimes. The existing landfill
has NOT been studied for resistance to such a huge earthquake. In 1993, two cells were studied for
vulnerability to a magnitude 7.25 earthquake, a pipsqueak compared to 9.0. The berm, or wall, that DEQ approved
earlier this year, was engineered to only a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, and
though that study claimed the wall would withstand such a trembler, experts
have found deep flaws with the study.
Waste
Management laughs this danger off, telling people that the earthquake will
cause so much damage, "no one will worry about the dump." That is exactly the point: With no one worrying about gas and
leachate breaches at a failed dump, contaminants will escape to pollute the
soil, air, and water for years.
This is
the wrong location for a dump. The
neighborhood surrounding the landfill has changed dramatically since the dump
was originally approved in 1980.
Relying on the understanding that the dump would reach capacity and
close in 2014, many homes have been built on small (50-80 acre) farms that
contribute to the County's wine and agricultural economies. In fact, the County has identified more
than 500 taxpayers
owning land within 3 miles of the dump.
Businesses,
many tourist-dependent, have also cropped up. A prominent B&B overlooks the landfill, and wineries,
produce stands, florists, and other businesses are sited within sight, sound,
and smell of the dump. Back in
1980, the neighbors were turkey farms and a go-cart race track. The Riverbend neighborhood is no longer
the type of site that is desirable for a landfill.
Moreover,
the original 1980 dump approval called for a maximum height of 7' above
ground level at Hwy 18. Each 20-acre cell of waste was to be
returned to farming when full. By
1993, however, the County had rejected its own conditions and allowed the
landfill to grow sky high and to completely fill the parcels zoned PWS (Public
Works Safety). Monitoring was so
lax that the first three cells were improperly compacted, allowing contaminated
liquids (leachate) to flow out of the landfill into the river and groundwater.
That
original approval was, ironically enough, based on a land use exception to
State Goal 3, which protects farmland.
Riverbend's first owners convinced the County that farmland was not needed at the site, which was then
rezoned to PWS to allow creation of the landfill. Thirty years later we have come full circle.
Please come to the hearing or
email, mail, or fax your opposition to rezoning Riverbend to the County
Planning Department by November 7 (hearing will be held at 7:00 PM at McMinnville Civic Hall, corner Baker and 2nd in McMinnville)
Yamhill County Planning &
Development Department
525 NE 4th Street
McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Phone: (503) 434-7516
Fax: (503)
434-7544
Why You Need to Tell the Planning Commission: No Rezone for Riverbend!
This Thursday, November 7, Waste Management
will ask the County Planning Commission to rezone Riverbend Landfill to farmland. Once rezoned, nothing will prevent landfill expansion now or in
the future.
Show up at the Planning Commission meeting
to express your opposition to this bizarre rezoning scheme!
WHEN: Thursday, November 7th
at 7:00 PM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Center-200
Second Street at Baker
Can't attend? We'll miss you but
you can still help. Email Ken Friday (fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us) at
the Yamhill County Planning Department. Tell him you want the Planning
Commissioners to vote NO on Riverbend's rezoning request.
Here's what's at stake: Riverbend says it wants 25 more
years of garbage storage on a mere 37 acres, but if the existing dump is
rezoned, Riverbend will have the legal right to expand indefinitely
onto the hundreds of farm acres adjacent to the dump that Waste Management already owns.
Moreover, once the dump has expanded, Waste Management can buy the
farmland next door and expand again.
Here's why: State law allows counties to site
landfills on exclusive farm use land even though landfills are not agricultural
uses. Until two years ago, Yamhill County prohibited dumps on farmland. But in the
fall of 2011, the County amended its Zoning Ordinance to allow existing
landfills to expand onto land zoned for farming subject only to site
design review.
Here's the catch: The existing dump must also be in a
farm zone, but Riverbend is in the PWS (Public Works Safety) zone. Hence the need to rezone a mountain of
garbage that can NEVER be farmed from PWS to Exclusive Farm Use.
Waste Management (Riverbend's Texas-based
corporate owner) is telling everyone that the rezoning is no big deal because
the County still has to approve specific expansion plans. The trouble
is the County can't deny the expansion once the rezoning is approved -- it can only require expansion to meet the
very basic requirements of a site design review. The Zoning Ordinance
specifically prohibits the
County from requiring the dump to meet tougher standards.
In 2008 Riverbend sought a 96-acre landfill
expansion that would be 100 feet higher than what the dump is now. When the County applied site design
review back then, the only problem the County found was that the proposed dump
was too high. The County had no
problem approving 96 additional acres of garbage, including moving a
salmon-bearing creek! The County
didn't deny expansion then; don't expect the County to nix anything now.
Rezoning puts all the farmland owned by
Waste Management at risk, despite the County's own Comprehensive Plan goals,
which require farmland protection.
Decades down the road, Waste Management -- or any other corporation that
might buy the dump -- will be allowed by the Zoning Ordinance to continue expanding onto all
contiguous EFU acreage the corporation owns.
The dump is an
eyesore, an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen, and a health risk, all
on the edge of McMinnville. YAMHILL COUNTY DESERVES BETTER. Tell the Planning Commission to vote NO on rezoning!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Farm Bureau, Friends of YC Dinners Coming Up
It may be too late to dine but not to hear the good news about what our local Farm Bureau and Friends of Yamhill County have been up to. Attend their dinners this week! Learn about GMO at the Farm Bureau meeting and about agro-tourism at FYC.
Farm Bureau dinner: Saturday, November 2, at 5:30 at Golden Valley Brew Pub, Third and Johnson in McMinnville. Contact Marie Schmidt at mschmidt@linfield.edu for more information.
Friends of Yamhill County: Monday, November 4, at Community Plate, Third Street in McMinnville. Contact Ilsa Perse at ilsap@earthlink.net for more info.
Farm Bureau dinner: Saturday, November 2, at 5:30 at Golden Valley Brew Pub, Third and Johnson in McMinnville. Contact Marie Schmidt at mschmidt@linfield.edu for more information.
Friends of Yamhill County: Monday, November 4, at Community Plate, Third Street in McMinnville. Contact Ilsa Perse at ilsap@earthlink.net for more info.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Nov 7th Planning Commission Meeting Looms Large
As noted below ("Riverbend Expansion Is Back!"), the Yamhill County Planning Commission will consider rezoning the dump to farmland at its November 7th meeting.
Absurd as it may sound, this is the first -- and the most crucial -- step toward expanding the landfill.
Here's what's at stake: Riverbend says it wants 25 years on 37 acres (bad enough, right?) but what Riverbend will get if the dump is rezoned is the legal right to expand indefinitely so long as it owns farmland adjacent to the dump.
Here's why: State law allows counties to permit landfills on exclusive farmland even though landfills are not agricultural uses. Until two years ago, Yamhill County actually prohibited dumps on farmland. But in the fall of 2011, the County Zoning Ordinance was amended to allow existing landfills to expand onto farmland subject only to site design review. The catch is that the existing dump must also be on farmland.
Waste Management, Riverbend's Texas-based corporate owner, is telling everyone that the rezoning is no big deal because the County still has to approve specific expansion plans. The trouble is, the County can't deny the expansion once the rezoning is approved -- it can only require expansion to meet the very basic requirements of a site design review. The Zoning Ordinance specifically prohibits the County from requiring the dump to meet tougher standards.
If you were around in 2008 and remember the gi-normous expansion Riverbend sought then (96 acres!), you probably also remember that except for the height (which Waste Management thought should be twice what it is today), that expansion passed site design review. Don't expect the County to nix anything smaller.
Absurd as it may sound, this is the first -- and the most crucial -- step toward expanding the landfill.
Here's what's at stake: Riverbend says it wants 25 years on 37 acres (bad enough, right?) but what Riverbend will get if the dump is rezoned is the legal right to expand indefinitely so long as it owns farmland adjacent to the dump.
Here's why: State law allows counties to permit landfills on exclusive farmland even though landfills are not agricultural uses. Until two years ago, Yamhill County actually prohibited dumps on farmland. But in the fall of 2011, the County Zoning Ordinance was amended to allow existing landfills to expand onto farmland subject only to site design review. The catch is that the existing dump must also be on farmland.
Waste Management, Riverbend's Texas-based corporate owner, is telling everyone that the rezoning is no big deal because the County still has to approve specific expansion plans. The trouble is, the County can't deny the expansion once the rezoning is approved -- it can only require expansion to meet the very basic requirements of a site design review. The Zoning Ordinance specifically prohibits the County from requiring the dump to meet tougher standards.
If you were around in 2008 and remember the gi-normous expansion Riverbend sought then (96 acres!), you probably also remember that except for the height (which Waste Management thought should be twice what it is today), that expansion passed site design review. Don't expect the County to nix anything smaller.
The Planning Commission meets Thursday, November 7, at 7:00
PM at McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 2nd Street at Baker in McMinnville. Attend in person or send written
comments to brandtm@county.yamhill.or.us -- or both!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Important Meetings Regarding Riverbend!
Two important meetings
regarding the future of Riverbend Landfill are coming up in the next two weeks!
Mark your calendars and
SHOW UP! This is our chance to
change the future of the landfill.
Expansion:
On November 7, 2013, Waste
Management will ask the Yamhill County Planning Commission to rezone the land
beneath the dump to EF-80 -- farmland.
Although this sounds absurd, this is a necessary step that will allow
the dump to expand!
But it is far from a minor,
preliminary step. Once the land is
rezoned, the only thing standing in the way of expansion will be a site design
review by the County Planning Department.
The huge expansion proposed back in 2008 passed site design review with
only one change -- after a public outcry, the planners imposed a maximum height
on the landfill.
We don't expect height to
be an issue this time. But we do
expect Waste Management to seek expansion of at least 37 acres, which means 25
more years of trucks, noise, stink, birds, lights, litter, and uncontrolled
waste dumped on the banks of our river.
And the rezoning they are seeking would give them the legal right to
expand onto a minimum of 87 acres.
See related story
"Riverbend Expansion Is Back!" below dated Sunday, October 20, for
more details. Comment below or
contact the Stop the Dump Coalition with your questions.
Meeting November 7, 2013,
at 7:00 PM at McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 NE 2nd Street near Baker in
McMinnville.
Air
Quality Permit:
On Wednesday, October 23,
2013, DEQ and Waste Management host the semi-annual Air Quality Meeting. Learn about changes to the dump's air
permit and also about DEQ's new Odor Nuisance Strategy. For details, see story "Air
Quality Meeting Wednesday October 23" immediately below.
Meeting October 23, 2013, at 6:00 (pizza) and 7:00 (meeting itself) at McMinnville Senior Center, 2250 NE McDaniel Lane in McMinnville.
Air Quality Meeting Wednesday, October 23
This fall's air quality meeting, hosted by DEQ's Gary Andes and Waste Management (WM), will take place this coming Wednesday, October 23, at the Senior Center, 2250 NE McDaniel Lane in McMinnville. WM provides pizza at 6:00 with the meeting starting at 7:00.
Federal environmental law requires landfills to meet standards in an air quality permit issued under Title V of the Clean Air Act. Last December many members of the community testified at a DEQ (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) hearing regarding proposed changes to Riverbend's air quality permit.
At Wednesday's meeting, Gary Andes will discuss these changes to the permit and take questions and comments. WM will try to wow us with their super-duper upgraded odor management, which doesn't seem to have made a difference out in the neighborhood. The dump is just too darn big!
One issue that neighbors have recently raised with DEQ and WM is "odor training." People who live and work near the dump and others who must drive by would be offered the opportunity to learn the different odors the dump gives off: garbage, gas (rotten egg smell), exhaust from the LandFillGasToEnergy plant (a hint of diesel), leachate, and perhaps others. We can raise this idea at the meeting.
Another topic to raise is the effect -- if any! -- DEQ's new Odor Nuisance Strategy might have on Riverbend's operations. Odor is defined as a nuisance in Riverbend's air permit, but DEQ has refused to enforce this condition. In 2013, following complaints about compost sites around the state, DEQ finally redefined its policy. You can judge for itself whether it is any better. Check out the Strategy at http://www.oregon.gov/deq/Pages/index.aspx; look under Quick Links on the right-hand side of the page.
We wish we could have warned you about this meeting earlier, but it was set at the last minute. Andes explained that the delay was due to the federal government shutdown. DEQ had asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve changes in WM's air quality permit that would have moved the fall meeting to November. The shutdown prevented the EPA from commenting on that change, so the meeting had to be scheduled quickly to comply with Riverbend's current permit, which requires a meeting in October.
See you there!
Where: McMinnville Senior Center
2250 NE McDaniel Lane
McMinnville
When: 6:00 - pizza and mingling
7:00 meeting begins
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Federal environmental law requires landfills to meet standards in an air quality permit issued under Title V of the Clean Air Act. Last December many members of the community testified at a DEQ (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) hearing regarding proposed changes to Riverbend's air quality permit.
At Wednesday's meeting, Gary Andes will discuss these changes to the permit and take questions and comments. WM will try to wow us with their super-duper upgraded odor management, which doesn't seem to have made a difference out in the neighborhood. The dump is just too darn big!
One issue that neighbors have recently raised with DEQ and WM is "odor training." People who live and work near the dump and others who must drive by would be offered the opportunity to learn the different odors the dump gives off: garbage, gas (rotten egg smell), exhaust from the LandFillGasToEnergy plant (a hint of diesel), leachate, and perhaps others. We can raise this idea at the meeting.
Another topic to raise is the effect -- if any! -- DEQ's new Odor Nuisance Strategy might have on Riverbend's operations. Odor is defined as a nuisance in Riverbend's air permit, but DEQ has refused to enforce this condition. In 2013, following complaints about compost sites around the state, DEQ finally redefined its policy. You can judge for itself whether it is any better. Check out the Strategy at http://www.oregon.gov/deq/Pages/index.aspx; look under Quick Links on the right-hand side of the page.
We wish we could have warned you about this meeting earlier, but it was set at the last minute. Andes explained that the delay was due to the federal government shutdown. DEQ had asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve changes in WM's air quality permit that would have moved the fall meeting to November. The shutdown prevented the EPA from commenting on that change, so the meeting had to be scheduled quickly to comply with Riverbend's current permit, which requires a meeting in October.
See you there!
Where: McMinnville Senior Center
2250 NE McDaniel Lane
McMinnville
When: 6:00 - pizza and mingling
7:00 meeting begins
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Riverbend Expansion Is Back!
The
Yamhill County Planning Commission (PC) will hold a public hearing Thursday, November 7th
to consider Waste Management's latest move to expand Riverbend Landfill. The PC will meet at 7:00 PM at McMinnville
Civic Hall, 200 2nd Street at Baker in McMinnville.
The issue
before the PC is whether to rezone the landfill to farmland. Sounds crazy, but the dump can't be expanded
unless it sits on farmland. Should the
rezoning be allowed, the public will have virtually no way to prevent the
expansion of the dump. Each time the dump asks to expand, all that will be required is a site design review, a process that did nothing to prevent dump
expansion the first time around back in 2008-2009.
If the PC,
and then the Board of Commissioners, approve the rezoning, this regional
landfill will be able to pile out-of-county garbage next to our river for 20
more years.
Preventing
the landfill from being rezoned to farmland is what matters. Please come to the hearing on November 7th
to tell the Planning Commission that this rezoning is a very bad idea. The PC needs to hear how strongly the
community opposes this plan. A strong
turnout from expansion opponents will send a clear message to the Planning
Commission and the County Commissioners. You can testify in person and/or submit written comments via mail and email (send to
Planning Director Mike Brandt at brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us). Whether you speak up orally or in writing, your presence is important!
The PC
will be acting under Zoning Ordinance 867, which the Board of Commissioners
adopted in September 2011. That
Ordinance allows a landfill to expand onto adjacent farmland only if the
landfill itself is on EFU land. Here’s
where things get complicated. Riverbend
Landfill is currently NOT on EFU land. It is on land zoned Public Works Safety, the zone the Commissioners assigned the land back in the 80’s in order to allow the landfill to be sited
next to the Yamhill River in the first place.
Here is
the language from Zoning Ordinance 867 that explains how the dump can expand
onto adjacent farmland. Ordinance 867 allows:
“The
maintenance, expansion or enhancement of an existing site on the same tract for
the disposal of solid waste for which a permit has been granted under ORS
459.245 by the Department of Environmental Quality, together with equipment,
facilities or buildings necessary for its operation. The use must satisfy the standards set forth
in ORS 215.296(1)(a) and (b) and the standards set forth in Section 1101, Site
Design Review. The maintenance,
expansion or enhancement of an existing use on the same tract on high-value
farmland is permissible only if the existing use is wholly within a farm use
zone . No other Yamhill County Zoning Ordinance criteria or Comprehensive
Plan goal or policy shall apply as an approval standard for this use.”
State law ORS 215.296(1)(a) and (b) provide that the use must be
compatible with farming. Section 1101 is
the portion of the Yamhill County Zoning Ordinance that sets standards for site
design review. Neither are as strict or
comprehensive as the standards for a rezoning.
Now is the time your voice must be heard!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Letter from Leonard
Note: Leonard Rydell, former engineer at Riverbend Landfill, has been sharing his thoughts with government officials and the public for several years. Here is his latest take on the dump.
October 4, 2013
Dear Friends,
When I first started my investigations into Riverbend Landfill, I was advised by two people that I respect to be diplomatic and to try to not ruin people's reputation, as people make mistakes in life, and one mistake should not overshadow decades of positive efforts. I took that to heart.
Early on, I tried to do that with Yamhill County Commissioner Kathy George, but once the words "Riverbend Landfill" were mentioned, she declined the meeting. I didn't even try with Mary Stern as it was well known that she had recused herself.
I have tried calling the Commissioners several times, but when "Riverbend Landfill" was mentioned, none would take the call. When I asked them to call back, they didn't. When I e-mailed them on a public safety issue last February, County Counsel left a voice mail requesting that I quit contacting them. I have the recording.
In December 2012, I filed formal written zoning and land use complaints and sent them by registered mail to the Yamhill County Commissioners, Planners Mike Brandt and Ken Friday, and the Yamhill County Planning Commission. Ken Friday did call me and said that he "didn't see a problem." When I started asking specific questions, he stated, "I hope that you have a nice day, a very nice day" and hung up. He has hung up a few times since. I asked a Planning Commissioner if he had received a copy of my complaint, and he said, "No."
I called and talked to the Yamhill County Code Compliance Officer, and he told me that he was instructed to not investigate or respond to my complaint.
I have great respect and am on a first name basis with the Yamhill County Commissioners and the Yamhill County Planning staff. I work with them frequently, find them very knowledgeable, and am proud that they generally represent my best interests. However, with Riverbend Landfill, they are pursuing expansion at any cost and contrary to good engineering judgment and our local planning regulations. Consequently, Riverbend Landfill has evolved from a facility that was to meet our needs for 50 years through the year 2032 and was to be returned to farming, into the present 160 foot high unstable plastic covered pile of garbage. This is not right.
Many of my concerns are planning related, i.e. why is Riverbend Landfill allowed to ignore original approval conditions, setbacks and height limits? Or other engineering and environmental standards such as unapproved mining in the floodway, failure to meet earthquake standards, and unapproved fill in the floodway and flood plain? Why does Riverbend Landfill Company get special treatment when the rest of us have to live by the rules? I see disparities in my engineering practice. This week, I turned down a client who needed a no-rise certificate for a house he built in the flood plain. He probably won't be able to get it. Yet, Riverbend Landfill Company has built a 160 foot high pile of garbage in 40 acres of the floodway and flood plain.
I finally sent an e-mail to the Commissioners on Monday, 30 September 2013 asking them to respond to my past complaints by 5:00 pm yesterday (3 October 2013). As a result, I did receive a couple of phone calls from the current County Counsel Chris Boenisch requesting additional information. I sent him a mass of information including my formal complaints and Riverbend Information E-Mails. However, by of the end of yesterday, I had not received any further communications from him or the Commissioners.
Is it ethical for our elected and hired public officials to ignore public safety issues? Is it ethical for them to unequally apply planning regulations? Is it ethical to not respond to a complaint or even be open to discuss the issues?
Is it ethical for myself, a Professional Engineer in the State of Oregon with professional responsibilities to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, to not raise concerns when I know that I am right?
I can fully understand that Yamhill County and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are already 30 years down the road of endorsing and approving poor practices, and it is difficult for them to admit that they created a problem and are wrong, but is that the right answer and in Oregon's best interests?
When you are in a hole, shouldn't you stop digging?
I would appreciate your comments and questions.
Thank you.
Leonard
Leonard A. Rydell, P.E., P.L.S., W.R.E.
601 Pinehurst Drive
Newberg, Oregon 97132-1625
Home Office: 503-538-5700
Fax: 503-538-9167
Mobile: 503-781-4138
October 4, 2013
Dear Friends,
When I first started my investigations into Riverbend Landfill, I was advised by two people that I respect to be diplomatic and to try to not ruin people's reputation, as people make mistakes in life, and one mistake should not overshadow decades of positive efforts. I took that to heart.
Early on, I tried to do that with Yamhill County Commissioner Kathy George, but once the words "Riverbend Landfill" were mentioned, she declined the meeting. I didn't even try with Mary Stern as it was well known that she had recused herself.
I have tried calling the Commissioners several times, but when "Riverbend Landfill" was mentioned, none would take the call. When I asked them to call back, they didn't. When I e-mailed them on a public safety issue last February, County Counsel left a voice mail requesting that I quit contacting them. I have the recording.
In December 2012, I filed formal written zoning and land use complaints and sent them by registered mail to the Yamhill County Commissioners, Planners Mike Brandt and Ken Friday, and the Yamhill County Planning Commission. Ken Friday did call me and said that he "didn't see a problem." When I started asking specific questions, he stated, "I hope that you have a nice day, a very nice day" and hung up. He has hung up a few times since. I asked a Planning Commissioner if he had received a copy of my complaint, and he said, "No."
I called and talked to the Yamhill County Code Compliance Officer, and he told me that he was instructed to not investigate or respond to my complaint.
I have great respect and am on a first name basis with the Yamhill County Commissioners and the Yamhill County Planning staff. I work with them frequently, find them very knowledgeable, and am proud that they generally represent my best interests. However, with Riverbend Landfill, they are pursuing expansion at any cost and contrary to good engineering judgment and our local planning regulations. Consequently, Riverbend Landfill has evolved from a facility that was to meet our needs for 50 years through the year 2032 and was to be returned to farming, into the present 160 foot high unstable plastic covered pile of garbage. This is not right.
Many of my concerns are planning related, i.e. why is Riverbend Landfill allowed to ignore original approval conditions, setbacks and height limits? Or other engineering and environmental standards such as unapproved mining in the floodway, failure to meet earthquake standards, and unapproved fill in the floodway and flood plain? Why does Riverbend Landfill Company get special treatment when the rest of us have to live by the rules? I see disparities in my engineering practice. This week, I turned down a client who needed a no-rise certificate for a house he built in the flood plain. He probably won't be able to get it. Yet, Riverbend Landfill Company has built a 160 foot high pile of garbage in 40 acres of the floodway and flood plain.
I finally sent an e-mail to the Commissioners on Monday, 30 September 2013 asking them to respond to my past complaints by 5:00 pm yesterday (3 October 2013). As a result, I did receive a couple of phone calls from the current County Counsel Chris Boenisch requesting additional information. I sent him a mass of information including my formal complaints and Riverbend Information E-Mails. However, by of the end of yesterday, I had not received any further communications from him or the Commissioners.
Is it ethical for our elected and hired public officials to ignore public safety issues? Is it ethical for them to unequally apply planning regulations? Is it ethical to not respond to a complaint or even be open to discuss the issues?
Is it ethical for myself, a Professional Engineer in the State of Oregon with professional responsibilities to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, to not raise concerns when I know that I am right?
I can fully understand that Yamhill County and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are already 30 years down the road of endorsing and approving poor practices, and it is difficult for them to admit that they created a problem and are wrong, but is that the right answer and in Oregon's best interests?
When you are in a hole, shouldn't you stop digging?
I would appreciate your comments and questions.
Thank you.
Leonard
Leonard A. Rydell, P.E., P.L.S., W.R.E.
601 Pinehurst Drive
Newberg, Oregon 97132-1625
Home Office: 503-538-5700
Fax: 503-538-9167
Mobile: 503-781-4138
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Waste Management Unveils Landfill Expansion Plans
Waste Management gave the public a preview of their plans for the dump at a meeting tonight.
The corporate owner of Riverbend Landfill proposes asking the County to rezone both the PWS (brown area on map below, except for Whiteson) and RC (pink) zones to Exclusive Farm Use. The landfill itself would then expand onto the 25 acres to the west of the existing dump, ie, the triangle in R5501-00400 above the boundary line for R5501-00401. Those acres are north of the famous No-Name creek, so WM would not have to move the creek. WM might also ask to rezone 12 acres north of the existing landfill adjacent to the portion of R5501-00101 that is now zoned PWS (brown).
R5501-00401 would become "landfill operations" (another 25 acres), including access to Hwy 18. West of that parcel are yet another 25 acres that would be set aside for "green technology." WM explained that its operations area and the green tech would be "ancillary" to the landfill itself and therefore permitted under state and local land use law.
WM also unveiled its "green" tech: a plant that will take the non-putrescible waste brought to the dump (minus substances like dirt) and compress these to make pellet fuel. The organic smelly stuff would still go into the expanded landfill. WM estimates that about 35% of what comes to Riverbend today (approximately 520,000 tons/year) is suitable for use in this new technology (ie, about 180,000 tons), though the plant itself will be scaled to handle 1,000 tons/day (260,000 - 365,000 tons depending on whether the plant operates 5 or 7 days a week).
To hear that the smelly stuff would still be going into the landfill was very disappointing.
We believe WM will file for the rezoning within the next few days.
The corporate owner of Riverbend Landfill proposes asking the County to rezone both the PWS (brown area on map below, except for Whiteson) and RC (pink) zones to Exclusive Farm Use. The landfill itself would then expand onto the 25 acres to the west of the existing dump, ie, the triangle in R5501-00400 above the boundary line for R5501-00401. Those acres are north of the famous No-Name creek, so WM would not have to move the creek. WM might also ask to rezone 12 acres north of the existing landfill adjacent to the portion of R5501-00101 that is now zoned PWS (brown).
R5501-00401 would become "landfill operations" (another 25 acres), including access to Hwy 18. West of that parcel are yet another 25 acres that would be set aside for "green technology." WM explained that its operations area and the green tech would be "ancillary" to the landfill itself and therefore permitted under state and local land use law.
WM also unveiled its "green" tech: a plant that will take the non-putrescible waste brought to the dump (minus substances like dirt) and compress these to make pellet fuel. The organic smelly stuff would still go into the expanded landfill. WM estimates that about 35% of what comes to Riverbend today (approximately 520,000 tons/year) is suitable for use in this new technology (ie, about 180,000 tons), though the plant itself will be scaled to handle 1,000 tons/day (260,000 - 365,000 tons depending on whether the plant operates 5 or 7 days a week).
To hear that the smelly stuff would still be going into the landfill was very disappointing.
We believe WM will file for the rezoning within the next few days.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Waste Management to Announce Expansion Plans
Waste Management will reveal its plans for expansion of Riverbend Landfill at another of its "pizza meetings" this Tuesday, September 24.
The company's website invites the public to "Come learn about plans for our green technology plant and future landfill operations."
Over the summer, Paul Burns of WM informed Stop the Dump members Susan Meredith, Susan Watkins, and Brian Doyle that WM was considering an energy-producing facility for the Riverbend site. Burns declined to discuss the nature of the proposed facility other than to say that it would convert ordinary MSW (municipal solid waste, the stuff people throw away) into energy.
Using MSW as an energy source is big news, because MSW makes up the bulk of landfill garbage and also produces the most odor and gas as it decays. Developing an efficient conversion process that does not in turn pollute air and water is one of the holy grails of waste handling.
According to Burns, the conversion process WM is proposing will not be able to utilize all categories of waste brought to Riverbend. As a result, WM will continue to seek landfill expansion.
The Stop the Dump Coalition suggests several "baseline" commitments WM should make in any expansion proposal:
The company's website invites the public to "Come learn about plans for our green technology plant and future landfill operations."
Over the summer, Paul Burns of WM informed Stop the Dump members Susan Meredith, Susan Watkins, and Brian Doyle that WM was considering an energy-producing facility for the Riverbend site. Burns declined to discuss the nature of the proposed facility other than to say that it would convert ordinary MSW (municipal solid waste, the stuff people throw away) into energy.
Using MSW as an energy source is big news, because MSW makes up the bulk of landfill garbage and also produces the most odor and gas as it decays. Developing an efficient conversion process that does not in turn pollute air and water is one of the holy grails of waste handling.
According to Burns, the conversion process WM is proposing will not be able to utilize all categories of waste brought to Riverbend. As a result, WM will continue to seek landfill expansion.
The Stop the Dump Coalition suggests several "baseline" commitments WM should make in any expansion proposal:
- Place all WM/Riverbend-owned lands at the site into a permanent easement that prohibits landfill-related uses in perpetuity;
- Explicitly protect waterways that border or cross WM/Riverbend-owned lands from landfill-related activities;
- Monitor emissions at the landfill perimeter and optimal off-site locations and allow public access to the data in real time, and promptly correct any problems;
- Monitor ground water quality on neighboring properties, share data with landowners, and promptly correct any problems;
- Require loads to be sorted for recoverable material before the load will be accepted at the landfill;
- Ensure that "green technology" utilized at the site truly is green.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Party! Come to the Dump-the-Dump Potluck
by Stop The Dump Staff
8/8/2013 2:27:15 AM
8/11/2013 4:30:00 PM
10075 Youngberg Hill Road
McMinnville
OR
97128
McMinnville
OR
97128
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